[Ellery]

Ok Since Alex personally asked for me to post my thoughts on this I'll give it a whack.

As in any recruiting activity from my experiences in a high school organization, college fraternity, FIRST team , or work there's one thing in common - the "what's in it for me?" mentality.

1) ROI - If you want to successfully attract supporters and participants you have to sell them something that's the best thing since sliced bread, whether it be an experience or some "ROI - Return on Investment" (Business slang).

2) Target Audience - As in Alex's scenario I would advise to focus on an audience subset that would more likely be interested versus just having a grand display for gazillion folks. That's why Marketing has target audiences at specific age groups, or categories.

3) Timing - Some students already have tons of stuff they already signed up at the beginning of the school year so you should plan on targeting your audience either at the end of the season for the following year or over the summer before classes start. One example I've used in college for recruiting new fraternity members was soliciting freshman via mail and addressing their parents about the history and mission of the organization.

4) Buy-In - Besides student buy-in you also need school administration and parental buy-in. If the parents aren't willing to drive the potential member to /from the meetings then the member is a bust. Also if the school administration doesn't support it they won't allow any meetings or facilities to be accessible.


I can probably go on and on with some of the past experiences I've encountered but the above few are probably some of the big hitters.



This may be the last posting I make for the next 2 years since I'm heading back to grad school to pursue my Masters in Product Development at RIT and have handed over the RochesterFIRST/ FLRC/ XEROX FIRST Program/X-CATS reigns to my fellow teammates.

But all in all I'm always open for consultation...